


'is it worth it?'

by Cartara



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien has too many thought and Marinette is a ball of sun, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, It's nothing bad I promise, Self-Doubt, that's basically it, they're just too cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27164254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cartara/pseuds/Cartara
Summary: A little drabble I wrote a while ago and forgot about for a hot minute, say a few months.Enjoy!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	'is it worth it?'

**Author's Note:**

> A little drabble I wrote a while ago and forgot about for a hot minute, say a few months.  
> Enjoy!

#  The thought kept circling around in Adrien’s head as he leaned back on the stairs inside the school building. The metal had been warm because of the watery sun, but now it had disappeared behind the graying clouds. Somewhere he knew he should be putting on a jacket or something, but he was too deep in thought to bother moving. He could be cold later. 

With the small nobs of the metal digging into his forearms and the wind picking up and messing up his post-shower hair, Adrien let out a sigh of relief of being in the quiet for a second and tilted his head backward with his eyes closed, feeling the last rays of sun on his face.

Footsteps coming from above caught his attention, and he mustered up the energy to open his eyes and tilt his head backward more to see who was coming. Marinette’s upside-down face came into his vision, and he smiled. She seemed to be processing, her hands stilling around the poster cases clutched between herself and her arms as she blinked. “Are you okay?”

Right. Upside down.

He tilted his head back to be upright again, blinked twice to get the dancing black spots out of his eyes, and turned back sideways as she stepped down the last few steps until she was sitting next to him, posters carefully placed on the floor. “Why do you ask?”

“Shouldn’t you be fencing right now?” she asked, before her eyes went wide and she waved with her hands. “I mean... I would assume fencing, because you’re usually driven home immediately after class and all, not that I’ve been looking, but it’s just...” She breathed out shakily before resolutely but softly meeting his eyes again. “You seemed kind of... lost?” She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before taking her purse in hand and fiddling with the clasps on top. “Sorry if that sounds weird.”

He hummed in thought, casting a glance at the incoming rainclouds that would be pouring on their heads soon. “I guess I had to take a breather for a second?”

She blew a breath out of her nose. “Yeah, _that_ I get.”

Right. Marinette had a busy life as well. With her designing and commissions that kept on coming (he’d heard her talking to Alya about it, and even through she was excited about all the things she’d get to try and the challenges it would pose, they were stacking up), he couldn’t imagine Marinette just sitting on her couch watching a movie or playing Ultimate Mecha Strike III. “How are the commissions?”

“Fine,” she smiled. “It’s a lot, but I’ve learned a lot already and I’m planning on learning much more.” She turned back to him, a worried glint in her eyes as she studied his face for a second. “And how are _you_?”

“Things to do, places to be,” he shrugged. “Father has--”

“That’s not what I asked.” The interruption left him silent for a second, tilting his head at her. “I asked how you _are_.”

Adrien blinked.

“Um...”

She put her purse back on her hip to turn to him fully, hands now folded together in her lap. She seemed to be itching to reach out to something.

“I guess... I’m tired.” It sounded more like a question as soon as the words left his lips. “It’s been a lot, lately. Shoots, fencing, piano, Chinese, fundraisers, events, galas, dinners...” He caught her alarmed gaze and realized he’d been rambling. “It’s not as bad as it sounds!” he exclaimed. “I’m fine. I can handle it.”

“But do you want to?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you having fun at shoots?” She was very close now, responsible class representative seeping into her tone as she shot the question at him. “Are you enjoying it? Looking forward to it? Do you have _fun_?”

Adrien avoided her gaze and crossed his arms. “I can’t do anything about Father planning those things for me. Nino tried, got akumatized. We tried again, Wayhem got akumatized. I don’t want to see you get akumatized too.”

The look in Marinette’s eyes turned very soft in an instant, and he didn’t know how he should feel about it.

“My father won’t let me get away with fewer activities. He’ll pull me out of public school. I _have_ to.”

“So you do all those things--” she said more to herself as a sum-up than to him as a question. “He sends you to do all that, and you do them all, because you aren’t given a choice?”

It sounded worse when _she_ said it.

“I needed a breather,” Adrien admitted, shivering as the wind picked up and the rainclouds got closer.

“Well,” Marinette started, and he turned to see her determined yet pouty face, “I think that’s just plain mean.”

Adrien laughed at the expression combined with the statement and laughed even harder when Marinette flushed and yelled it wasn’t funny. She was smiling.

So maybe it was worth it.


End file.
